Our weekly digest of articles about emerging Europe published elsewhere this week, all of which caught our eye and all of which are well worth your time. Listing them here, however, does not necessarily mean that we agree with every word, nor do they necessarily reflect Emerging Europe’s editorial policy.
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Kosovo’s army faces uphill fight, experts warn
Money, multi-ethnicity and international support are just some of the challenges facing Kosovo as it sets out on the long road to creating a fully functioning army.
Read the full story here.
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Máté Bartha’s Kontakt – Hungary’s military summer youth camps
For his prize-winning series Kontakt, the Hungarian photographer chronicled his country’s nationalistic summer camps
Read the full story here.
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Merkel’s ‘shakes’ perceived as EU tremors in the Balkans
Montenegrins eager for the political and economic benefits of closer cooperation with the European Union can use all the influential voices they can get in Brussels. But that point might be lost on some members of the ruling coalition in Podgorica.
Read the full story here.
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I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians weighs the cost of confronting the past
Beginning with his third feature, Aferim! (2015), Romanian writer-director Radu Jude has seemed to reinvent himself with every new movie. Jude’s latest feature examines the Romanian Holocaust and a nation in denial.
Read the full story here.
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Neighbours in the time of cholera. Gdańsk and Kaliningrad
Since July 1, it has been possible to to enter Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast with a free electronic visa. This could be a new chapter in the relationship between Gdańsk and its Russian partner.
Read the full story here.
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Holocaust museums missing from key historical sites in Eastern Europe
In the capital of Lithuania, an institution formerly known as the Museum of Genocide Victims barely mentions the murder of nearly all the country’s Jews by Nazis and locals, focusing instead on the years of abusive Soviet rule.
Read the full story here.
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Vanity Fair: doctoral dissertations on sale in Ukraine
Buying a doctorate may sound surprising. Unfortunately Ukraine has a well-developed market with dissertations.
Read the full story here.
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Why half the scientists in some eastern European countries are women
Science is still a man’s world. Since 1903, when Marie Curie first won the Nobel Prize, almost 600 blokes but only 19 women have taken home the coveted award in physics, chemistry or medicine. In the realms of more ordinary talent, just 28 per cent of the world’s researchers are women. Eastern Europe bucks the global trend.
Read the full story here.
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Romanian cricketer hailed as hero after admitting bowling action ‘not beautiful’
A Transylvanian cricketer playing in the European Cricket League, whose bowling technique initially attracted online mockery has been hailed as a hero and received backing from Shane Warne and Jofra Archer after he said his love of the game trumped any criticism.
Read the full story here.
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The nine best European wines from non-EU countries
Eastern Europe is quickly becoming a region to watch. It’s where local and indigenous grape varieties are often being used to produce wines that can certainly match those being made elsewhere in Europe.
Read the full story here.
